Teacher tapes up mouth of boy, 11

A teacher taped up a special-needs pupil's mouth for talking too much in class.

Ben Deacy's mother only found out about the incident from a school report praising the 11-year-old's progress.

But today teacher Annie Sturrock's action was being investigated by local education chiefs.

Mother- of- four Kay Morgan, 45, said: "I was horrified - how can anyone do that to a child?

"Ben has special needs and has had problems with children bullying him. But I wouldn't expect a teacher to do that."

She protested after Ben brought home his class report, which read: "Excellent work - once I taped his mouth up!"

Ben was part of a small special-needs group at 800-pupil Llanrumney High School, Cardiff, when Mrs Sturrock decided to us masking tape on his mouth. Ms Morgan said her son is allergic to sticking plaster and she had to keep him off school for two days with a rash.

Headmaster Don Barnfield admitted it had been a "very, very silly thing to do." But he said only a small piece of tape was used, and that Mrs Sturrock's action had been "just symbolic".

Mr Barnfield said her job is " extremely demanding", and that she is "hard-working but not terribly experienced". Mrs Sturrock was not available for comment.